WARREN – Neighbors along a quiet stretch of road in this small rural community just north of Scappoose rallied Tuesday to console a family who lost a 3-year-old boy Monday evening in a barn fire.

The fire, which broke out about 5:30 p.m. was called in by neighbors who heard explosions and then saw smoke and flames billowing from a barn behind a home in the 3300 block of Slavens Road.

"There was a huge plume of black smoke," said Lyn Johns, who lives across the street. "The flames and smoke were towering over the trees."

When firefighters from Scappoose Rural Fire District arrived they found the structure engulfed in flames. Family members told firefighters a boy was trapped inside. It took firefighters 30 minutes to extinguish the blaze and another 15 minutes before they could find the boy's body, said Ronda Melton, fire district public information officer.

The dead child has been identifed as Nathan Hines. An autopsy to determine the cause of death has been scheduled for Wednesday.

Fire investigators issued a press release Tuesday afternoon saying the cause of the fire has been determined to be “children playing with a lighter.”

Johns said an extended family lives in the home.

"The parents are there, their parents, daughters, kids and an aunt," Johns said. "There are always kids playing in the yard. This is just tragic."

Evelyn Scharf, who lives next door to the family, said the barn was packed with hay and personal watercraft.